AMA CPT® Assistant - 2022 Issue 8 (August)
Questions and Answers (August 2022)
August 2022 page 16 Questions and Answers Evaluation and Management (E/M): E/M Services Guidelines Question: May a non–emergency department (ED) health care professional who is called to the ED to consult on a patient perform a time-based visit in the ED? For example, a cardiologist is called to see the ED patient and the patient is not admitted. Answer: Yes, the non-ED physician or other qualified health care professional (QHP) may report a time-based consultation code if more than 50% of the visit is spent in counseling and/or coordination of care. The guidelines for consultations were not part of...
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Article Overview
This Q&A article addresses a set of CPT coding questions spanning evaluation and management, integumentary surgery, cardiovascular procedures, female genital system surgery, nervous system procedures, and psychiatry. It is useful for coders, auditors, and clinical documentation staff who need to understand how the CPT Assistant guidance discusses service classification, code applicability, and related terminology across multiple specialties.
Why This Topic Matters
The article helps readers understand how CPT guidance is applied to common but nuanced situations across several specialties, including when services are considered separately reportable, when an unlisted code is appropriate, and how to think about documentation and code selection in mixed-service encounters.
Article Sections
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Evaluation and Management (E/M): E/M Services Guidelines
Covers several questions about E/M reporting in hospital and office settings, including consultation scenarios, patient status concepts, and interpretation-related service distinctions.
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Surgery: Integumentary System
Addresses wound healing concepts, skin replacement-related procedures, and other integumentary surgery questions involving procedural classification and code families.
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Surgery: Cardiovascular System
Discusses a cardiovascular procedure reporting question involving catheter placement and related drainage concepts in the context of an ablation case.
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Surgery: Female Genital System
Reviews reporting considerations for a minimally invasive gynecologic surgical approach and the use of an unlisted procedure code.
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Surgery: Nervous System
Explains guidance related to chemodenervation support services and whether certain adjunctive procedures are reportable with a salivary gland procedure.
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Medicine: Psychiatry
Discusses how E/M code selection is handled when psychotherapy services are provided together with E/M services under current CPT guidance.
What You Will Learn
- How CPT Assistant addresses E/M questions involving consultations, patient status, and interpretation services
- How the article frames wound healing and skin procedure categories in integumentary surgery
- How the article discusses procedure reporting issues in cardiovascular, gynecologic, nervous system, and psychiatric contexts
- How CPT guidance relates to unlisted procedures and adjunctive services
- How psychotherapy-linked E/M selection is addressed in the psychiatry section
Who Should Read This
- Medical coders
- Coding auditors
- Physician and clinic billing staff
- Compliance professionals
- Clinical documentation improvement staff
- Specialty practice managers
Codes Discussed
Code Ranges Discussed
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